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Saturday, April 9, 2016

It's time to amend the $2000 accident declaration law in British Columbia

My understanding is that this law was brought into play in the 1970s. Its obvious purpose was to make sure consumers knew when they were purchasing a vehicle that had previously sustained damages of $2000.

This law made sense in the 1970s when a head light was $20. Today it is not uncommon to see LED headlamp assemblies that can cost over $2000 for a single unit. The cost of parts and repairs have increased dramatically and unfortunately this law has stayed the same.

The one interesting this about this law that most people don't understand is that you must declare any damages that cumulatively exceed $2000. This is not per incident, but if you have numerous damages that add to more then $2000.

This owner must now disclose a $2000 declaration. Take a look at the wording used on the tax transfer. "Cumulative Vehicle Damage".

Consequently this law causes the unnecessary loss of vehicle value, due to having to declare an accident history, when in some instances there is no need to lose value. Accelerated Depreciation / Diminished Value could be mitigated in some instances if this law was amended to be more appropriate for 2016. If you don't know what Accelerated Depreciation is - Click Here for the CBC Marketplace Episode.